How have you seen your music evolve from songs you started off with and the later songs when you were head over heels in love?
Nickolas Ashford: It did make some difference, a lot of difference. It just got better. It got more....
Valerie Simpson: Easier. We didn't have to call each other and say, "Let's get together and work." We were sleeping together then [laughing].
Nickolas Ashford: Access to ideas easily worked out because you're close already. I'd say, 'What do you think about this?' She'd say, 'Nick, I like this part.' You can just jump into it. Whereas before, you got to call. 'Where will you be at 4?' Our content has probably changed — more personal in some songs, you know?
A lot of your music revolves around love in all of its various stages. You were recently tapped to score the musical for E. Lynn Harris's Invisible Life. How different was the writing process for this when compared against your own personal projects?
Valerie Simpson: Totally new.
Nickolas Ashford: It's hard, mainly because the writing and the music has to further the storyline. It's not always the song we're writing; it's an emotional point we're trying to portray musically. Sometimes you have a full-out song. It's more challenging to tell the story through the music. With the singing and talking and then singing a whole song — it's a process and it has to marry beautifully for it to really work.
Valerie Simpson: Also, telling this kind of story — about a young man's confusion about his sexuality, showing all the people he encounters in his life, and trying to get the audience to ride that wave with you — it's quite a challenge. We're having fun with it. It's something brand new.
In 2008, The Wiz, another project you worked on, celebrated the 30th anniversary of its film production. How did you initially become involved with the project and what particular contributions did you make?
Valerie Simpson: Quincy Jones was the musical director for the whole thing. He came to New York and stayed at our house on the West Side for a couple of nights. Together, we worked on two songs. Quincy Jones is a great man to work with. He's so much fun, so musical. That was really it — a treat.
In more recent news, a parody of "Solid," your signature hit, has surfaced on television and the Internet — bearing the title "Solid as Barack." Have you received any feedback from anyone inside the Obama camp?
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